shifting the tone of pop culture criticism

Ryley Walker’s album Primrose Green feels like it was made by a man unstuck in time. It could be a lost Tim Buckley or Nick Drake album with its jazz-inflected, acoustic guitar-driven pastoral quality. Walker is an amazing guitar player, taking the instrument from gentle, bucolic strumming to aggressively percussive. His fingerpicking is otherworldly.

The titular track sounds as if it could have been lifted from a Nick Drake album. It feels very “folky England in the 1970s,” gently rambling with lush layers of guitar. Ben Boye’s dissonant piano delivers a lively undercurrent that becomes more dramatic and urgent before settling into a rustic groove again. It’s an auditory treat.

The loose, jazzy “Summer Dress” is a folk mind bender. It’s wild and hallucinogenic with a wandering bassline that’s dreamy and vibrant. The tight drumming of Frank Rosaly is a focus of the spacey prog rock “Same Minds.” Walker’s voice is open throated here with a pleasant huskiness to it, while his wail has a bit of gravel. “Sweet Satisfaction” feels much like “Same Minds,” from its vocal style to its jazzy drumming. The difference here is the addition of a fuzzed-out guitar that cuts in like a hive of angry, chainsaw-wielding bees. It erupts into a full on driving frenzy, theatrical and compelling.

“Love Can Be Cruel” is richly textured and frantic, but subdued. Walker’s playing here is incredible; his guitar sounds like a sitar. It’s a particularly unbridled track. The only quibble is that the vocals are buried so far down in the mix they’re almost unintelligible. The guitar, of course, is the focus so that’s completely understandable.

The sundrenched “On The Banks Of The Old Kishwaukee” is a change of pace, leaning more toward Americana than jazz. Here, Walker sings mysteriously over shimmering guitars in a remarkable song that advances with quiet locomotion. On the melancholy yet buoyant “All Kinds Of You,” Walker delivers easy vocals. It’s a bit disconcerting to hear effects on his guitar on this track and the fadeout feels like a particularly raucous Doors track.

The final song is exquisite. “Hide In The Roses” is just Walker’s acoustic guitar and his plaintive vocals. His fingers are lightning fast on this Celtic flavored track that is both immediate and elegant.

Primrose Green is a dazzling album. Ryley Walker’s unbelievable guitar work is eclectic and brilliant. The songs feel timeless and organic, a marriage of folk and jazz that dismisses the more annoying parts of either genre.